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Date: Wed, 09 May 2012 18:33:49 +0200
From: Georg Bauhaus <rm.dash-bauhaus@futureapps.de>
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Subject: Re: Ada Reference Manual 2012 in info format
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Date: 2012-05-09T18:33:50+02:00
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On 09.05.12 16:09, Dmitry A. Kazakov wrote:

>> Writing math papers and making data traveling automation networks
>> seem rather different use cases.
> 
> Yes, though XML is usually advocated as a universal solution for
> everything.

Suggestions to use XML can be motivated by the force of what everyone
else does. So the best options seems to be to clearly demonstrate
responsibility of followers for any cost incurred by inappropriate
use of XML.


> Just two weeks ago, or so, XML was proposed to handle Ada source code.

One way to "generalize" an algorithm so that it can be used with
any capable language, or presented to "analytical" programs, is to describe
it superficially, and loose something.

The XML format would not be made for programming, obviously, since then we
could stop using specialized programming languages. But, as was said
in this thread, XML of the kind that is sufficiently general is easily
transformed from and into some other formalism.
A more generic source code analysis tool may then analyze just the
basic idea, if and only if that is covered in simplified XML.

Much like a mathematical description of an algorithm can be transformed
into a program, and more easily so if the math is sufficiently general,
and sufficiently conventional. With generality you loose something, but
the loss seems preferable to inscrutable duct tape software written using
every feature of a programming language.

procedure Foo
   ( Bar : in out T1;
     Baz : in     F17);
  --  does this thing

becomes, or is made from, not for reading(!),

<subp n="Foo">
  <a:doc>does this thing</a:doc>
  <sig>
    <par n="Bar" type="T1" mode="inout" />
    <par n="Baz" type="F17" mode="in" />
  <sig>
</subp>


Programs that use XML processors and XSL for performing I/O
would then not have to know about Ada, C++, C#, Java, Cobol,
VB, etc.

> Wouldn't be great to have math in XML:

The XML text is not well-formed, you need more Ada like verbosity :-)

>      <digit position=1>3</digit>
>      <digit position=2>1</digit>

<digit position="1">3</digit>
<digit position="2">1</digit>